Brink
by Jude McCartney
Summary: Cameron Steele sets off to create his own tale, living in the shadow if his brother. But can he really make his own imprint on the world? Chapter 6 has some important plot lines for the rest of the story. R/R!
1. Stain's Sloppy Start

"I'm gonna catch it," my older brother, Stain, said.

"With what? That net?"

"I brought a rake too..." he looked crestfallen. The little blue alligator monster seemed to be taking a nap underneath of a tree by a small creek a few miles outside of the main populus of Cinnabar Island. We were on a vacation with our mother and grandparents, and Stain and I had gone wandering to find some apples... or so he had told me when we left.

"Cameron, go to the other side and be prepared to scare that thing back towards me if it runs." I glanced out at the sleeping Pokemon. We were hidden by a dying bush, and though the alligator-like monster was asleep, I wasn't fond of the idea of it's teeth sinking into my flesh.

"I'm 11."

"I know, good job on that. I'm gonna jump out and put my net around it, and keep it contained... shoo. Go." He crouched and acted like a professional as I made my way carefully around the sleeping beast.

As I got into position I shouted, "Aren't you supposed to catch these things with a Pokeball?"

"Well yeah, but as we don't have one, I'm gonna use the net."  
"What about the rake?"

"Oh, in case I need to defend myself." It was my brother's dream to become a famous Pokemon trainer, though he was already 14 years old, when most trainers leave at the age of 10, our family knew of the dangers of Pokemon training, as our cousin Lynette had once been a star trainer in the league, and had also been killed on a journey to discover new Pokemon and regions... the thought of danger reminded me of something.

"What if I need the rake?"

"Er... get set, here I go!" With a yell and a lunge Stain scooped the Pokemon into his net and looked prepared to drop it and run away if it attacked.

It lazily opened one eye, stretched, yawned, and rolled over to continue it's nap. Stain looked shocked.

"... so... I caught a Pokemon?" He asked. I shrugged. "I caught a Pokemon!" He jumped around (the Pokemon stayed asleep) and jogged all the way back to the motel we had rented until the next morning.

I had never really liked the idea of becoming a Pokemon trainer, as my brother had. I did well in school, and thought about going into business like my mother and grandfather. However, my brother seemed to follow in my father and grandmother, as they had taken stints out of their childhood and early adulthood to train and capture Pokemon. My mother was frantic when she saw us running up the hill that was beside our motel.

"Stain! Cameron! Where were you two? It's been hours and-" she looked at the net trailing from my older brother. "What's in the net Stain?" Guiltily, he held out the net.

To say she screamed so shrilly that aircraft overhead had to remove the headphones from their ears to make sure they weren't malfunctioning might capture the impression we got. "GET-THAT-THING-OUT-OF-HERE-THIS-INSTANT!!"

"I want to keep it," Stain looked firmly at our mother, and the Pokemon woke up without him realizing. It crawled out of the net, walked along the shaft, and climbed up Stain until it rested in his hair, and curled up to fall asleep again.

"It's mine, and it obviously likes me."

Our mother opened her mouth to protest. "You just-"

"Did you capture yourself a Pokemon, son?" Our father was making his way down to pack the car before we left in the morning. Through his years of being a trainer, he knew how to best skim time off of almost any journey. He didn't even try to hide the exictement in his eyes or voice. "Looks like a species I've never seen, but it's definitely water-type, just like my Squirtle was back in the day... let's ask your grandmother."

"Now Phillip, let's not get my parents involved... you know how my mother gets about Pokemon." My granmother, Nicolette Steele, was a bit of a fanatic researcher on Pokemon. She wasn't crazy, she just loved her work a lot, for a very long time.

"I see no reason not to ask Nicky what the best method of training would be."  
"So I can keep it?" My father glanced uncomfortably at his wife, apparently remembering her misgivings on the subject.

"Well... ask your mother." Stain looked like his heart sunk to his stomach. My mother looked surprised (but pleased) with her husband's response, but sobered up at the sight of her son's disappointment. She knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course you can keep it. Just be careful."

"Grandma!" I yelled up at the elderly woman slowly making her way down the steps to the parking lot we stood in. She used a cane, and had thick glasses that made her eyes look like tiny specks behind the glass- but she was sharp as a whip, and loved to remind people. "Look what Stain caught!"

"Hmm?" She hobbled slowly over to my brother and he held the net open to her. She didn't seem to think as she responded barely a half-second later.

"Number 158, Totodile, water type Pokemon. Usually found near lakes, predominant male numbers makes reproduction harder and- you caught this?"

Looking proud of himself, Stain said, "Yep, and he's already taken a liking to me."

"It's not yours yet. You have to put it in a Pokeball." She handed him one.

"Erm... okay then. Pokeball go!" He tossed the ball at the Pokemon resting in his blonde hair (I inherited my father's brown) and it disappeared into it. It shook a bit, but then rested.

"There, now you really have caught your first Pokemon." She looked at him happy, and he looked in awe at the Pokeball conatining his Totodile in his hand.

"Be careful, that Pokemon may be small and playful, but it's jaws are plenty strong enough to take a chunk out of your leg." This news seemed to elate her, or maybe it was just the thrill of helping another trainer on his own way.

"I don't think this Totodile will hurt me. Come out, Totodile!" He tossed the ball out and the alligator appeared again. "I'm your trainer now, little buddy. We're gonna be the best!" The Pokemon let out a guttural growl that sounded like "Dile!"

"You know... your father started with a water pokemon as well... and I started out with a Mudkip all those years ago." This news seemed to make my older sibling swell with the pride of carrying the family tradition to a new generation.

"Well Totodile," he said, as he called his original Pokemon back to it's Pokeball, "We've got a lot to do before we start to go get our badges!"

That was 5 years ago. The path I would take, and the story I would unknowingly write, was one I would never expect.


	2. The Prodigal Son

Over the years, I received many letters from Stain. At first there was one every week- telling me about the adventures of capturing new Pokemon, and earning new badges. After a while, the arrival of this news became less frequent, until he quit writing altogether. After about a year of no news, I began to get worried. Had his fate ended up the same as our cousin Lynette?

Our mother seemed even more stressed than I. She spent a lot of time on the computer, looking for entrances in Pokemon leagues, and the trainers who have earned certain badges. The only real comfort she received was that after about 5 months without contact, Stain Steele (he'd taken our mother's maiden name for his trainer ID, thinking it was a coller name) was listed as a new holder of the Volcano badge, the gym led by Blaine on Cinnabar Island, where it all began. About 3 months after that, he apparently had earned the Earth badge.

"Don't worry dear," my father told my mother the morning of these reccolectoins. "Trainers oftentimes have periods of intense training where everything else is blocked from their minds. He's obviously still earning badges."

"But it's been so long-"  
"Yes it has, but he's also 19 now. He's an adult. He'll come back, don't worry about it."

"I just worry so much..."

"Of course you do, but Pokemon aren't all that scary, look at the Blastoise I had when we first met. You were so scared at first, until you realized how well behaved it was. You even cried a bit when she passed away..." That memory seemed to be very painful for my father, as he immediately went back to shifting through the papers he had laid in front of him.

I, however, had changed quite a bit in my 5 years since you last heard of me. School had taken a permanent backseat to my social life- and I regretted not following my brother's footsteps into the realm of training Pokemon. I'd spoken to my father about it a few weeks before, his advice was to follow my heart, and of course to make my heart love Pokemon. ... in hindsight, I probably should've asked someone who wasn't biased.

I'd spent a lot of time hanging around old man Oak's Pokemon lab, studying them for various projects in school, and sometimes just playing around with them. Later that day, in fact, I took a trip down to see him. My world was changed forever that day. I met his grandson, ex-trainer and famous breeder (and renown researcher himself) Gary Oak. Gary was just entering his 30s, and already had a reputation as one of the most respected authorities on Pokemon, due to his vast range of studies. His grandfather and a select few others were still considered the top authorities, but only because they were more than double his age. And of course, there was another event that changed my life that day...

I was helping Professor Oak organize different trainers Pokemon when he told me his grandson was expected to visit later that day.

"If you'd like to meet him, feel free to stick around." He'd told me. "In the mean time, I have something I'd like to show you..." He took me to a room he hadn't shown me before, and turned a light on. "This room contains the Pokeballs of trainers who are still at-large, and capturing more Pokemon almost daily."

"Hey! I recognize a lot of these names. Are all of these trainers from Pallet town?"

"Oh no. Why, your family isn't even from here..." He seemed to grin a little at this. It was true, my family was from a tiny village called Packingtown, barely a mile south of Pallet, right by the oceanfront. There was a population of about 50.

"Did my father store his Pokemon with you?"

"Oh, no. I do believe Phillip chose to keep his at a Pokemon center in Cerulean city. However..." we rounded a corner, and there was a vast wall of Pokeballs.

"Whoa..." It was by far the largest collection I'd seen thus far in the lab. At the very top was a nameplate. "... Stain Steele. These are my brother's?!"

"Why of course! Hasn't he told you of his exploits?"

"Not lately. He had told me he captured a few..." But this was amazing! Why hadn't he told me about them? "Would it be okay if I saw a few?"

"I don't see why not. They are your brother's after all." I grabbed 6 of them and we went outside. "Now be careful," the professor warned me. "Some of your brother's Pokemon are quite powerful." I threw the first one and a large dog erupted out of it, looking like it contained the very essance of fire.

"Whoa... my brother told me he caught a Growlithe!"

"Actually, he's evolved it since then. This is Arcanine. It was the first time your brother used a stone to evolve a Pokemon. It was a main member of his team for many years, but only recently he's sent it back to me. A shame, really. This Pokemon is strong, and quite rare." I called it back, already impressed with my brother's exploits. I threw the second one, knowing it would be hard to top the Arcanine.

"Ah, now this one was rather special to Stain. It was the first Pokemon he ever caught." The owl was hovering over us, hooting shrilly, and playfully dove down at us once or twice. :This is a Noctowl, Cameron, it's quite a bit older, and larger than when it was your brother's Hoothoot. It's been a good friend of mine for about 4 and a half years now. Your brother sent it here right after it evolved." I called it back yet again.

The next four Pokeballs contained a Pikachu, a Sableye, a Starly, and finally a Yanma. "My brother certainly has caught quite a few Pokemon, hasn't he?"

"Yes indeed. In fact he's captured the second most of all trainers that I've ever given a Pokedex."

"Behind Ash?" I asked, remembering the Pokemon master from Pallet.

"No actually," the Professor added with a smile. "Behind-"

"Gary Oak, here for business." I looked up and finally saw Professor Oak's legendary grandson. He looked much more proffessional than he had in his competing days, with brown dress pants, and a shirt and tie. "How ya doin' Gramps?"

"Gary, my boy! I was just telling this young man here about you. Gary, this is Cameron. Cameron, this is my grandson Gary."

"Nice to meet you kid, you a trainer too?" He asked.

"Actually no, I guess I got interested a bit late."

They each looked a little confused. The professor spoke first. "Cameron, you never mentioned wanting to become a trainer yourself. I thought you came here to study Pokemon like I do."

"Oh no Professor, I didn't mean I wanted to go and be a trainer-"

"Gramps, you should've given the kid a starter last week."

"I'm not even sure I'd even enjoy that-"  
"You must have some dreams of becoming a trainer?"

"Well I-"

"Leave my little brother alone Oak." A voice, a voice that had to be my brothers called. He was joking, of course, and he jogged up the driveway to catch up with us.

"Stain! Why haven't you been writing?" My brother looked a little uncomfortable.

"Just the rigors of training and all that, I called Mom and Dad, they're on their way over here, I hope that's okay Professor..."  
"Why of course! I'd love to host a little family reunion."

"Well it's a little more than that... I'd heard Gary would be here." He inclined his head in greeting to the breeder.

"Nice to see you again, Stain. Looks like you've grown up in the last year since I've seen you."

"Thanks, Gary. Cam, I was a bit disappointed when Mom said you weren't home, I didn't know if you'd left to be a trainer yourself! But I'm glad you're here, I've been waiting to see you guys, and to make a little announcement."

My brother seemed excited, but there was something in his features that was different, Obviously, he was 19 now, but he seemed a little darker, a little tougher than the Stain I'd known. His confidence seemed higher as well. He seemed so much more... powerful since he'd left, not just because of his Pokemon, but in himself.

We went inside, and Stain spent some time with the Pokemon he hadn't seen for years. I talked with both him and Gary about many things until my parents arrived.

"Stain darling! It's been so long!" My mother shrieked as she threw her arms around him. After the pleasantries were done... 30 minutes later, Stain asked to make an announcement.

"Guys, Mom, Dad, I just wanted to come and let you know that I intend on challenging the Pokemon league next week!" There was a bit of silence at this, and I knew everyone was thinking of Lynette, and the danger of the competition.

"Stain..." my mother began.

"I know what you're going to say, and I came up with a way to prove that I'm ready. You've never seen me in battle, none of you. So I decided to show what I've learned by defeating the most powerful trainer I could find."

We all looked over at Gary, who jokingly said "But the Professor hasn't battled in decades." That elicited a chuckle from everyone, who now knew why Stain had waited until Gary visited to make an appearance himself.

"So Gary, will you accept my challenge?"

"Of course, kid. But don't expect me to go easy on you, just because your family is here. I've come to like your little brother, and wouldn't mind showing off a bit myself."

"Allright everyone," the Professor said. "Let's go into the grounds for this. I've become quite fond of my trinkets and machinery over the years." He led us outside. I was quite excited, I'd only seen Pokemon battles on TV, and now I was about to see my brother take on one of the most powerful trainers to ever come out of Johto.

"Mom, Dad, I know you would worry about me... mostly Mom... but I think it's fair to say that if Gary and I are evenly matched, I could take on most trainers in the League." They didn't respond, but nodded. My father seemed more excited than I was.

"Okay Gary," Stain called when they were about 100 yards apart, us safely on the sides, away from where the action would take place. "You pick the rules."

Gary chuckled. "Well, when I was in the League, they had 3-on-3 battles. That's what we'll do."

"No time limit?"

"You got it."

Old Oak had taken the role of referee. "Okay trainers, battle!"

Stain acted quickly, wanting his Pokemon to have the immediate advantage by being ready first. "Go Pokeball!" He threw the ball in front of him, and out of it materialzed a huge shape, resembling a green dinosaur. A BIG green dinosaur.

"Heh. A Tyranitar? Nice training you must've done, those are rather rare. However, you're about to learn the importance of waiting to see what your opponent sends out first." He casually tossed out his own Pokeball, and out of it emerged a small, cat-looking creature with leaves growing out of it's tail and ears.

"What's that?" I heard myself ask before I could stop. Stain looked confused too.

"While in Sinnoh, I found out that there are actually 7 different evolutionary stages for Eevee. Of course, it was thought to be 3 originally, then 5, so there are probably more than what even we have recorded now. This is Leafeon."

Stain snorted. "You really think your little runt can take down my Tyranitar?"

"Never underestimate a Pokemon, especially not one I train."  
"Tyranitar! Use Rock Tomb!" Stain's Pokemon obeyed without thought, and it used it's powerful, but short, arms to pound the ground in front of it. It seemed pointless for a tiny moment, until the earth around Gary's Leafeon erupted around it, and buried it out of sight.

"Yeah Stain!" I yelled, but my father seemed to know better.

"Leafeon is a grass-type. Rock attacks won't do much to it, and when Gary attacks, it'll do more damage because of the weakness."

"Okay Leafeon, let's go." Gary seemed confident, and composed. His voice was calm and quiet, and his Pokemon was well-trained. From the pile of rock, a beam of light emerged, and it exploded around the leaf Pokemon. "Razor Leaf!" The Leafeon flicked it's tail quickly, over and over, and sharp leaves like shuriken sped towards Tyranitar.

"Dodge it!" Came Stain's call, the Tyranitar covered it's face, but the attack sunk in deeply in it's arms and side. The Tyranitar seemed surprised at the little Pokemon sitting before it, but immediately regarded it as a real threat.

"How did you get so powerful not even realizing strengths and weaknesses of Pokemon?" Gary chided. "You have a lot to learn. Leafeon, finish this joker with Solar Beam!" His Pokemon leapt into the air, and absorbed sunlight, it's body glowed with energy.

"Now, Tyranitar, Brick Break!" Like lightning, the dinosaur karate chopped the Leafeon out of the air, it's body slamming to the ground.

"No matter, it absorbed plenty. Fire!" The Leafeon arched it's back and opened it's mouth, sending a beam of energy at my brother's Pokemon.

"Mirror coat." The Tyranitar seemed to cower in fear, but right before the beam hit him, it's body turned shiny, reflective.

"Dodge Leafeon!" But it was too late, the beam bounced off of Tyranitar and hit Leafeon directly in the face, knocking it backwards.

"You say not to underestimate you, but you seem to be doing the same to me. I knew you'd send out either a water or grass Pokemon when you saw my Tyranitar, so I prepared myself to defend against such an attack."

Gary seemed a little shocked. "Very good, now shake it off Leafeon, we've got a real battle now." Leafeon seemed weak, taking two attacks already, but Solar Beam was a grass attack, so it didn't do as much damage as it could have. Both trainers seemed to stare the other down, waiting for the other to make the next move.

This time it was Stain who chuckled. "Heh, fine. I'll do it. Tyranitar, Iron Defense!" The Pokemon once again seemed to cower, but when it stopped, it's scales were coated with a thin layer of steel, and seemed thicker.

"A defensive maneuver, smart, considering what I'm about to do. Leafon! Double Team and use Quick Attack!" The Leafeon started moving so fast that it appeared to have multiple copies surrounding Tyranitar, every once in a while, one would come in lighting fast and tackle the unsuspecting dinosaur. Stain didn't seem perturbed.

"Good try, but you should know the best trainers have surprises up their sleeves. Tyranitar, Overheat!"

"What?!" Came the shocked cry from Gary Oak. The Tyranitar thew it's head back and a ring of fire escaped from it's mouth, shrouding the Pokemon in flame, until it quickly spread out to the ring of supposed Leafeon, all but one disappeared, and it was thrown backwards, straight at Gary's feet.

"Leafeon is unable to battle, Stain's Tyranitar is the winner!" Came the Professor's shocked announcement.

"... looks like I have underestimated you, but no more." Gary threw his next ball after he recalled Leafeon. "This is one of my most trusted Pokemon, get ready Nidoking." The beast Gary controlled looked like a purple, very large, very mutated rabbit. With a huge drill between it's eyes, and spikes leading down to a tail not unlike you would find on Tyranitar.

"Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam."

"Catch." Gary's response seemed rather odd to me, and as Stain's Pokemon used the most powerful attack in any arenal, calling all of it's energy to emit a beam of pure power from it's mouth straight at Gary's pokemon. It grew until it couldn't be contained, and was sped towards Nidoking. At the last moment, the Nidoking raised it's handed and stopped the speeding energy.

"What?!" came Stain's cry. The Nidoking then lowered it's head and drilled it's horn into the ball of light, immediately it was absorbed and the horn began glowing and occasionally sparking.

"That, Stain, is a trick I invented myself. My Nidoking has becoming so powerful that it can sometimes block powerful attacks, if it's opponent is weaker. I assumed your Tyranitar had not been trained to the extremes my own Nidoking has. Now, Thunder."

The sky darked as black clouds gathered above Gary's Pokemon and a lightning bolt hit it directly on the horn, instead of shocking it, however, it lowered it's head and aimed the horn at Tyranitar, who then was hit with the combined power of it's own Hyper Beam, and the Thunder attack.

"Wha-... no matter, Thunder doesn't do damage to Tyranitar, it's a rock type."

"But the Hyper Beam I absorbed does, and the Thunder wasn't just for looks. Look again." Gary chided. As Stain looked down, his face turned to stone. His Pokemon wasn't moving, and static appeared over it's body.

"Stain's Tyranitar has been paralyzed, and is too weak to continue. Gary and Nidoking win." Now that they seemed evenly matched, I wondered if Stain could possibly have a Pokemon equal to Gary's Nidoking.

"Your turn, Rhyperior." Out of the Pokeball emerged a monster 8 feet tall. It had the same rugged look as Nidoking, but was black and red, and stood on two legs.

Gary frowned. "I've heard of those, did the former owner put a protector on it before it was traded?" Stain didn't respond verbally, he just nodded.

The Professor turned to me. "Those are extremely rare. It's the previously uknown evolutionary stage of Rhydon, a powerful Pokemon in it's own right."

"Nidoking, Earthquake!"

"No, Gary, while my Pokemon is rock type, it's also ground, that'll be nothing but a nice little tingle. Rhyperior, use Poison Jab!" While Gary's Pokemon was causing rumblings that would've sent a weaker Pokemon flying, Stain's Pokemon used surprising speed to punch Nidoking in the gut. Right before contact, it's fist turned a neon type of purple, and Nidoking immediately stopped the earthquake attack.

"Not bad, poisoning my Pokemon, however, that will be that rare Pokemon's last trick- Nideoking Hydro Pump!"

"Oh sh-"

"It knows Hydro Pump?" My father asked in amazement. "I guess Stain isn't the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve." A powerful jet of water erupted from the Nidoking's mouth, and threw Rhyperior straight at Stain, who barely dodged it.

"You shouldn't have told me of your Rhyperior's two types, which are both susceptible to water attacks. We know, Grandpa, Rhyperior is unable to attack, and my Nidoking and I win yet again." His grandfather nodded, seemingly impressed with Gary's battling style.

"Don't panic guys, I have just the thing.to wrap this up. Go!" He tossed his Pokeball, which returned to him directly after letting it's contents out. It was as tall as the Rhyperior, but it was easy to tell where it came from.

"Is that your Totodile?" I asked, shocked.

"Well yes, but it's evolved, twice actually, into this Feraligatr." The alligator was large, with bulging biceps and eyes that showed no mercy. Stain, as well, seemed to change as he watched his original Pokemon prepare to battle. "We said we'd be the best, and we are. Gary, I'm sorry to do this to you."

"Return Nidoking." Stain looked a little surprised at Gary's move. "It's poisoned, I have to treat it before more battles, it wouldn't be right to make it battle more. But I have an answer to your Feraligatr, and I won't even go for a type advantage.

"Go Blastoise." Out of it erupted a purple turtle with a green shell, with cannons erupted out of it's shell by it's head. "Of course, this isn't my first Blastoise, and this one is rather rare. The coloring is that way because it's 'shiny.' It has no extra powers, but is a one-of-a-kind. Let's see who really has a mastery of water Pokemon."

There's no way Gary could know that Stain was now fighting in his own name, his father's, and his grandmother's, but the determination they each had to win the final battle couldn't have been clearer.

"I warn you Gary, this Feraligatr may be the most powerful Pokemon you'll ever battle."

"Warn me? Don't bother, I've fought more battles than you've dreamed of. Make your move."

Stain remained silent, and Feraligatr lowed it's head, as if disinterested. Stain looked away, looking distracted by the clouds.

"No way I'll let that slide, Blastoise, use Submission!" The Blastoise ran at Stain's alligator, looking to tackle it, but when he was close enough, Feraligatr exploded into it, using it's head as a battering ram. Blastoise looked stunned at the surprise move, and it's trainer wore the same expression.

"You see Gary," Stain mockinly called. "We use that move to get a powerful hit on unsuspecting trainers... it's a Skull Bash. I don't even need to tell Feraligatr when to use it. It knows. No Feraligatr, let's end this.Blizzard."

Immediately the air turned frigid, and it began to snow. The snow around Feraligatr turned into speeding hail balls, and shot after shot hit Blastoise directly in the chest. It went on for about a minute, the battlefield being blocked by the winter storm generated by Stain's simple command. When it cleared, Blastoise couldn't move, it's body covered in a thin layer of ice.

"Concede defeat, or feel the true power of my Feraligatr." Stain called, sounding a bit darker than his usual self, a gleam of power behind his blue eyes. The wind from the storm hadn't disapated yet, and the look was rather impressive.

"I concede. You're a lot better than I thought." Gary called Blastoise back to it's Pokeball and shook Stain's hand. "You definitely have a future." He looked at our parents. "You have nothing to worry about, he'll be champ in no time."

My parents looked shocked at the skill in which Stain had battled, and I shared it. It was amazing! It was powerful! ... it was inspiring. I knew that I wanted to do exactly what Stain was doing. I decided to tell the Professor later.

"Son, that was the finest bit of battling I've ever seen." My father said, sounding chocked up. "I'm prouder of you than I've ever been."

"Mom?"

"You can go. You obviously know what you're doing. At least I've still got Cameron around..."

Maybe this whole 'adventure' thing was going to be harder than I'd thought.


	3. Decisions, Decisions

"Mom, I'm going to be a trainer, just like Stain. See you around." My mirror didn't look impressed as I tried to think of how to tell my mom what was going on. Maybe just leaving abruptly would be best... she would find a note, and then I wouldn't have to listen to her worry. That'd relieve the pressure on me... so I wrote the note, briefly explaining what I was doing and why, and started throwing clothes into a knapsack.

"Camping, eh?" My brother was looking at me from the doorway. Well... technically the floorway, as a ladder led up into my room, which was fashioned from an attic.

"Er... sort of. Hey don't-!" He'd seen the letter and skimmed over it. His face became serious, and then he grinned.

"Knew I'd get to you sooner or later bro. You're what, 16 now?"  
"Almost 17..."  
"Cam, I'm all for this, really I am. But I have to tell you, training isn't anything like what the cartoons or the comics make it out to be. It's dangerous. People die. If you're going to put 100 into it, you'll be fine."  
"I know I can do it-"

"I just said you'll be fine. But kid, writing a letter to Mom and hoping it distracts her long enough for you to get away isn't the right thing to do."

"If I tell her, she'll never let me go."

"Ask dad."

"Well that'd be quick."

"I had a feeling you might be having these ideas... so I brought you this." He tossed a brochure onto my bed. "That's a little something I made up. Actually, it's a whole fake school I made up."

"... you want me to go to... 'Mr. Yoi-Wang's Academy for Young Boys'?"

"No. But if Mom thinks your interested in some fancy school 500 miles away, she'd be so happy that you're taking education seriously again, and not doing what you're about to, that she'd pay any cost for it."

"She'd be sending money to no one."

"Well, actually it'll go straight to you."

"I don't foll-"  
"Of course you don't, you keep interrupting. Listen, I've learned a lot of tricks in the last 5 years, but believe me, you won't regret this one, even if it sounds a bit shady. You go to Oak's tomorrow and get your starter, and your Pokedex, which includes your trainer card- WHICH, you also use as something of a debit card. I'll send an acceptance letter, after all I am the Dean, and the billing adress will go straight to you. It's foolproof."

"... you've been busy."

"I do try, kid.You can't catch 300 Pokemon without having something, or some things, up your sleeve. What do you think?"

"I think you might have just made up for not writing me for a year."

"Good, now Mom says I'm sleeping in here, so I get the bed."

We spent the night, well I spent the night, asking questions about training and Pokemon. I felt like I barely scratched the surface of what he'd accomplished.

"Yeah, my Feraligatr single-handedly beat the last 2 Gym Leaders. They weren't much of a challenge, honestly, for a water Pokemon."  
"I hope I can get one tomorrow..."  
"I'm sure there'll be some left over from the Starter giveaway he had last weekend. Grass-types seem to be getting more popular lately. You're options for water are Squirtle, Totodile (which I recommend), Mudkip, and Piplup."

"What if there aren't any left?"

"Then you get a different type. I'd stay away from fire, they're tough to raise, even if some trainers swear by them. The only ones I trained a lot were my Arcanine and Houndoom. Eh, I chose Umbreon over Flareon for my Eevee."

"I mean... I'd feel like I was letting the family down. 3 generations of water trainers..."

Stain rolled over and looked down to me. "Listen Cam. Training isn't about doing what other people have done, not great training anyway. You write your own story. You'll see what I mean, I'm doing things that no one will ever dream of doing, now get some sleep."

I thought his statement was inspiring, and made a mental note to be the same kind of trainer, and person, as my older brother.

The next morning, my brother and I headed to Oak's labafter breakfast. Gary came to the door.

"I was just about to head out, anything I can do for ya?"

"You might want to stick around, Cam's gonna live the life, finally."

"What's that I hear?" Old man Oak came with his cane around the corner. He looked at me and smiled. His eyes seemed to sparkle. "Now... it's been a while since I've been this excited to help someone on their journey. Come. All of you." The three of us followed the Professor through his lab, finally coming to another room, this one with see-through Pokeballs containing various Pokemon. "I've been hoping you'd do this soon Cameron, and after all these years, I consider myself somewhat of an expert at what Pokemon suits what trainer... but look through your options, and choose carefully. I'll give you my advice later."

Gary and Stain were on either side of me, giving advice on just about every Pokemon I saw. Gary was pulling for me to choose an Eevee or a Squirtle, Stain for any water Pokemon. They were each ho-hum when we reached the grass Pokemon, niether really that interested. But when we reached the fire section, both spoke up.

"Now remember, Cam, you'd just be hurting yourself by choosing one of these." My brother commented.

"Stain, I'm surprised at your niavety. In their final stages, and earlier ones, fire Pokemon can be some of the most powerful in any party. I myself had my original Blastoise defeated by Ash's Charizard."

"But for someone with no experience-"  
"I do understand what you're saying, Stain, and I agree. Water's in your blood Cam, go with it. I don't think your family has had a Piplup yet, and there's one left... you'd complete the set!"

With so many options, I really had no idea. I walked through the Pokeballs again. And again. I looked at each Pokemon and thought about it. I started taking some Pokemon out of their containers if I was really interested, to get a feel of it.

After I decided that a Piplup wasn't what I was looking for, I saw the Professor gesturing me to meet him in a corner. I walked over excitedly, remembering what he said.

"You know Cam, you're going about this a very smart way. I don't remember any trainer taking more time to make this huge decision, and looking for chemistry, very bright. Very bright indeed. I sometimes think we send kids off too soon... anyway, I have a proposition for you."

"Of course, sir."

"I've been doing this for a long time. And, I've had the privaledge of getting to know you over the last few years. I know your personality, and what would suit you. I know Gary and Stain are over there campaigning for their own favorites, but I think I see exactly what you need. So..." He pulled out a solid Pokeball.

"What's in that one?" I reached for it.

He pulled it out of my grasp. "If you accept this Pokeball, it will be yours. No trading in, no saying no. By releasing this Pokemon, you will become it's trainer, and in time, it's best friend. If you don't trust me, feel free to look around more and make a selection. But this one is special."

I reached out for the Pokeball, but then hesitated. It sure was asking a lot to trust an old man over myself. But this old man is smart. And he likes me. I grabbed the ball.

"Congratulations, you have your first Pokemon!" The professor exlaimed.

"What?!" Came Stain and Gary's yells in unison. "What did you pick?"

"Er... I don't know."

"You selected for him, Gramps? Well, I haven't seen you go wrong yet, let's see it."

"Okay then, go Pokeball!" I threw it out in front of me, and a small orange lizard standing in it's hind legs appeared in front of me. It had a tail, and at the tip of it- fire.

"Oh..." came my awed reply. "Charmander."

My brother didn't seem enthused. "That... that's the hardest Pokemon to raise, Professor."

"And he can do it. I haven't been wrong yet."

Gary seemed curious. "Hm.. I can't wait to see how this turns out. It is hard to train... but it's also very powerful. Do your homework, and you'll win easily. Good luck, I must be off. I have a rivalry, and training, to renew." With that he left, and I leaned down to my Pokemon.

"Well Charmander, I'm Cam, nice to meet you." I held out my hand. The flame Pokemon sniffed it, and nibbled the tip of my fingers.

"Better than expected. My friend tried that and ended up with singed eyebrows. Professor, looks like a smart match yet again. Now, I have to go bud, I'll leave the 'acceptance letter' with mom, and say I'm dropping you off. You leave today, you're backpack is outside. I'd go with you, but you have to do this alone. Good luck, bro. I'm sure you'll hear of me, or from me, soon."

And so it began, Cam Steele and Charmander were about to set off on a long, and tiring, and deadly journey together- as they will discover more about themselves, each other, and the world, then one person could possibly imagine.


	4. Diglett Trouble

I looked down at my Charmander as it chased it's own tail, smiling when it finally caught it, and waving it around like a torch.

"Playful little thing, isn't he Cameron?" the Professor called to me. He was going through a desk in the corner of his lab. I walked over and casually observed the computer screen and the assembled essays scrambled all over the desk. I was shocked to see hundreds of applications on his screen, all being updated constantly. I saw the title "PKDX-" followed by a name for most. I realized that all the Pokedex data he'd ever compiled was on this computer, and the essays were backup hardcopies. I'd never really looked through his office in the years I'd hung around with him.

I was a bit startled when he spoke again. "Through all my years, I've learned that every Pokedex has gathered knowledge that none other has. So, I'm giving you my newest version." He straightened up and handed me a square red device, that I knew recorded data on every Pokemon I encountered and captured. "Every Pokemon is different, even of the same species. The Charmander I've entrusted with you had a very peculiar skill set... so I entrusted him with a trainer who I think will best train him.You don't have to take that out every time, it automatically records data, so don't worry. And now, go. Your journey takes you far beyond these walls."

I called Charmander back into his Pokeball and walked out of his office. As I did so, I looked through the pictures on his walls. There were a few of the professor and I, training Pokemon in his field, reading through books, and even doing experiments together. I realized that I had a decent amount of knowledge of Pokemon, but it was all bookwork. I now had my own Pokemon, and was going out into the real world. I was probably the oldest new trainer, considering many 10 year-olds had got their first Pokemon and left a week or so before. I certainly didn't feel like a great trainer. But Professor Oak had deemed me worthy for the "special" Charmander I now found myself in possession of.

I opened the door and saw the backpack my brother left for me, and there was a box with a note tied to it beside it. I bent down to pick it up, and realized it was actually two notes. The first read:

"Hey bro. Told you it'd work. I thought the items in the box would help you out as well. Use them wisely. --Stain." I reached for the box and picked it up, it wasn't very heavey, and I heard what sounded like multiple items banging into one another. I decided to read the other letter before I opened the box.

"Cameron! Your brother told me about the deadline to get to your new school, so I understand your quick departure. Your father and I are so proud of your newfound rebirth in your education, and judging from the brochure, I can look forward to the day you're working with your mother. Love you! Stay safe, tell Stain to take care, he told me he was taking you. Love always, Mom."

... my brother really did know what he was doing. With his trickery, I wondered why he never went into business, or politics, himself. I reached for the box and opened it. Inside were 5 Pokeballs, and a belt. Another note rested on top. "Figured you'd need these, use the belt to hold them, remember to buy more, and the Pokemon you catch after 6 will be sent to Prof. Oak. You can get in contact with him at Poke Centers to switch them out. Peace bro, I'm sure I'll see you someday."

I switched my current belt for the official Pokemon trainer one, it looked more expensive than most, and attatched the five extra Pokeballs to it, and put the one containing Charmander in the front right. I looked straight ahead, and noticed that my brother had positioned his gift so that I was staring straight down the path that led to Viridian City, and Viridian Forest after that. I reached for my Pokeball and through it. My Charmander emerged from a ball of white, as the ball returned to my hand. I minimized it and reattatched it to my belt.

"Well buddy, this is it. We're partners from here on out." The flame Pokemon looked up curiously at me, seemingly measuring me up. I pulled out the Pokedex and opened it. '_Charmander. Flame Pokemon.' _It quipped. _'The flame on it's tail can be attributed to it's health, power, and happiness. If the flame were ever to go out, the Pokemon would die.'_ I glanced down. Charmander was walking around me, looking entertained. I clicked on 'Skill Set'._ 'Charmander may learn many moves, the current one has the ability to use Scratch, Leer, Smokescreen, and Ember.'___ That was good news, at least I'd know what to command in battle. "All right Charmander, you ready to go?" I pulled out the Pokeball, but my only Pokemon seemed a bit down when he saw that. So I put it back. What trouble would it be to let it walk with me for a while?

We set off for Viridian. The road was a bit rocky, and it caused me to slow down many times. Charmander, however, just got down on it's four legs and ran up these parts, and seemed proud of it's ability to do so. Many sounds came from the woods on either side of us, none threatening really, but all reminding me of the wild Pokemon we would encounter.

I decided it was time to sit down and rest, we were about halfway to the city, so after plopping down on a rock, I pulled out a sandwich for me, and gave half to Charmander, who snacked happily. I laughed at him, and went to take another bite of my sandwich.

And it was gone.

"What the-?" I looked around and didn't see anything, but Charmander was looking above me, growling. It's flame was bigger than I'd seen it before. I looked above me and saw a Caterpie snacking on my sandwich, apparently it had used String Shot to grab it from me when I was watching Charmander. "Give that back!" I yelled. The caterpillar Pokemon glanced at me, and nonchalantly continued it's stolen meal. I looked at Charmander, who had been waiting for me to give it a command. "Right... um... Charmander! Use Ember!"

Charmander reared back it's head and spun, and fire from it's tail flew and hit the Caterpie in the chest, knocking it from the tree. I heard my Pokedex recording data, reminding me of Caterpie's dual weaknesses to fire, because it was grass and bug.

"This is my chance to catch it! Charmander! Use scratch!" Charmander lunged at the Pokemon, but before he could attack, it disappeared in a ray of red light.

"Wha-?"

"I knew it wasn't strong enough." A trainer, about 13 by the looks of him, walked from the bushes toward me. He seemed like he knew a little bit about what he was doing. "I just caught it, you see, and wanted to see it battle, but it just stole your dumb sandwich! Sorry about that... my name is Eric."

"I'm Cameron."

"Sorry about the sneak attack, but I didn't see any way my Caterpie could beat your Charmander anyway. You must be pretty good to have trained one. How long have you been doing this?"

"Er... this is my first day, actually."

"Really? Have you even had a battle yet?"

"Well no, actually that Caterpie of yours was my first action ever."

"Wow! Well you were pretty quick then, if it really was your first time. I live around here, I've been training for a year, and I have a badge from Pewter Gym, but it really wasn't hard with a Bellsprout and a Goldeen. Heh. So... you up for a battle?"

"Sure!" I was eager to see if I could beat this kid, I knew my brother wouldn't have a problem with accepting a challenge, so I wouldn't either.

"Two-on-two?"

"Er... I only have Charmander here..."

"Oh, sorry I forgot you're new. Okay, one-on-one. I'll choose my first Pokemon! Go Diglett!" He through his Pokeball, but instead of a pokemon standing on the grass in front of me, instead one burrowed underground, until I could only see eyes and a red nose. I knew it was a ground type, and that it would have an advantage against my Charmander.

"Okay! Charmander use Ember!"

"Diglett, use Dig!"

My Charmander spun again, and flame erupted where the Diglett had been seconds before, but it had dug underground to evade the attack. Charmander was looking around him, but the burrowing Pokemon erupted behind him and knocked him to the ground. "Okay Charmander, try scratch!"

"Diglett, Dig again!" Once again Eric's Pokemon evaded attack by simply going underground, and it once again knocked my Charmander to the ground. My lizard looked confused as his opponent went underground again to avoid detection.

"Focus Charmander! You'll see the ground come up where he's about to attack you!"

"Diglett, go quickly so they can't react!" I saw the ground to the left of Charmander start to churn, but Charmander saw it before me and lunged out of the way, only to jump right into a bush. "Diglett! Use scratch while he's stuck!"

I was starting to panic, Charmander hadn't landed a single attack. "Use Ember!" Charmander tried to spin, but was too tangled in the bush, but what happened next was an even better result.

As the Diglett was about to attack, the bush erupted into fire, the Diglett was knocked backwards from the attack, which I realized was a result of using Ember. I got an idea.

"Charmander! Smokescreen!" Charmander opened his mouth, and a thick, black smoke covered the ground. Diglett, being close to the ground, couldn't see.

"Diglett, go underground and feel for him!" I was hoping he'd do something like that.

"Okay Charmander, jump and cut down some of the tree's branches!" He did so, and soon the playing field was littered with leaves and branches.

The Diglett came up to attack Charmander, but once again the lizard had known how to dodge. "Now buddy! Use Ember on the leaves!" As Charmander did, the battle field turned into an inferno, Charmander enjoying the tickling of the flames, and Diglett squealing in pain. "Finish him off! Use Scratch!" Charmander rushed towards the panicking burrower, and attacked him head-on, knocking him out of the flames, and into the area at Eric's feet.

"Wow." Eric said, as he called back his Diglett. "I didn't expect anything like that. But if we were at the Rock Gym, you wouldn't have been able to use those tricks. You were lucky." And with that he walked away. I waited for the flames to go out safely, Charmander occasionally blowing on them to see if that helped, and when they finally died down, I leaned down to my partner.

"You did great, Charm, have a rest." I took out the Pokeball, and he seemed almost relieved to be able to go in and relax. I found a space in a clearing under the trees and took out the small sleeping bag my brother had packed for me (I can't think of everything) and laid down. It had been a busy day, and I knew I'd have many more like it.

But for this day, I closed my eyes and was content (and very happy it wasn't raining), and as I lost conscienceness, I could only think about the successes my Charmander and I had accomplished, and looked forward to many more.


	5. Action, Adventure, and Bit of Chaos

I woke up drenched. Just because it isn't raining when you go to sleep apparently doesn't translate into the weather staying that way. I changed into a new pair of clothes, and then an idea struck me. Knowing that my brother could handle himself in any situation simply by using his Pokemon, I called out my Charmander.

"Charmander, use ember to dry my wet clothes." The Pokemon seemed confused but with a 'char' as a response, it walked over to my soaked shirt and pants, and spun it's tail. It quickly turned around, curious to see the result.

Which was a ruined pair of clothes.

"Ah, it's not your fault bud. I should've known better." I recalled the lizard back into it's Pokeball, and finished packing up the camping equipment.

Well, that was the first failure of my little journey. Though I knew it wasn't really a big deal, I still was rather down on myself. The words of Eric still rang in my ears. "You were lucky." At first, I just thought it was because he was angry about losing. Now, though, I wasn't so sure. Had I been lucky? When we were battling, I seemed to be sloppily scrambling for the win, but I still won, hadn't I? I guess there's really no way to gauge success after just one battle and a scorched outfit. I got so lost in my own thoughts that I wasn't watching where I was walking, and as soon as the thought hit me, I immediately tripped over a tree root.

Brushing myself off, I heard laughter. I looked up and saw a boy and a girl walking towards me. The boy seemed jolly, and about my age. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and khakis, while the girl had overwhelming beauty. She might've been a year older than me, and had a pair of shorts on, and a grey and blue shirt on, which just showed off her tan and brown hair.

"Watch yourself there, mate." The boy laughed and stretched out his hand. I took it, noticing his British accent. "The name's Mark. Mark Scowell. This here is my lady friend-"  
"I can speak for myself. And please don't refer to me as your 'lady-friend.' People will get the wrong idea. I'm simply his travel companion," she added, looking at me. She didn't share his apparent British ancestory. "My name is Ezra. I do suppose you'll hear it many times, as I am going to be the very best trainer you've ever seen. In fact, I just might be... and you are..?

"Cameron. Cameron... Steele." Hey, it worked for my brother. And apparently his reputation stood before me.

"Steele, you say? Any relation to-" Mark started.

"Stain's my older brother."

"Ha! That's the only bloke I've ever seen give Ez here a lickin! Boy he was good... I do expect you'll be the same way." During that exchange, Ezra seemed to scowl (at Scowell... ha) and look me over. She seemed unperturbed.

"Only one of your Pokeballs is filled. How new are you at this?"

"I'm pretty new..." Was everyone on this road more experienced than me? Not even having a semi-famous sibling was enough for these two to give me an ounce of respect, it seemed.

"Oh, give the bugger a break. I'm relatively new meself. Only have 3, so don't feel down on yerself. Ya see, I only catch ones I really feel somethin' with."

"What he means is, he ran out of Pokeballs due to his lack of training and skill with actually capturing those he wants. That's why we're on this road, to get more from the store in Viridian. I assume you're headed there as well?"

"Yeah-"

"Good, we're almost there. You can tag along if you wish, just don't hold us up."

Conversation with her seemed limited, Mark, however, was pleasant as could be.

"This here," he said as he released a Pokeball. "Is Took." A small bird appeared, and seemed very well trained.

"Is that a Pidgey?"

"Close, a relative. This is what you call a Starly. It was me first partner. Just tossed a Pokeball, and he went right in. Been me favorite ever since! I do believe he should be ready to evolve soon..."

"Evolution isn't simply about power, Mark. There are so many variables you can never understand completely when or why Pokemon evolve. Many do just simply because they feel they need to, others let nature take it's course. Some resist for a long time." And with no further explanation, Ezra continued walking.

"Quite the charmer, ain't she?" Mark whispered to me. I laughed, wondering if I could count Mark as my first real 'friend' I'd made on my trip. I also wondered if Stain ever traveled with people, but I'm sure he did, he'd been at it for over 5 years now. "So what's yours?" He glanced at my Pokeball, which was in my hand. I pressed the release button, and Charmander came out, looking confused as the bright light.

"Chaaaar." He squinted and rubbed his eyes, and jumped onto my leg, holding on so he didn't have to walk.

"This," I said, trying to shake the sleepy lizard off. "Is my Charmander."

"Haha! Quite the character you've got there. He does look like he could handle himself in a fight, though. What do ya think, Ez?" Ezra glanced down and snickered at how the Charmander was carrying on.

"If you can ever get him off of you, I'm sure he'd do just fine. I'm sorry, I shouldn't make fun. Charmander are hard to raise and train, and it seems as though you've found one loyal, which is hard, it's become a bit too loyal. At either end of the spectrum, you'll find difficulty. However, that is one of the biggest tail flame's I've ever seen on a Charmander, which could point to either happiness or power. Or both." She smiled, the first I'd seen from her, and we continued on our way.

Eventually Charmander walked on his own, and played with Mark's Starly. They chased each other around a bit, making Mark and I laugh, and even Ezra gave a grudging smile. After about an hour the trees cleared way off the path, and a town opened up ahead of us.

"Finally!" Mark said. "I didn't think we'd ever make it with all those pests in the woods. You two coming with me to the Poke Mart?"

"I'd rather head to the Pokemon Center. You two go ahead." Ezra replied, I followed Mark, and asked about the pests he'd mentioned.

"Well we ran into some buggers in the woods, jumped us you see. I don't know what they were after, but Ezra took out one Pokemon, and bammo! Took out all three of theres in one hit."

"Is she really that good?"

"No, I'm making it up. Of course she's that good, mate! When I said yer brother is the only one I've seen beat her, I should've said 'or even come close.' And that's sayin' something for yer brother, too. I reckon he might be the best I've ever seen."  
I swelled with pride at that comment. After we got his stuff from the Poke Mart, we sat out on a bench on the outside of a square with a fountain in the middle. Trainers milled all about it, talking, and occaisionally battling.

"Ezra seems a bit... distant most of the time."

"Ah, ya just got to give her a shot. She's verrry serious about trainin, mind ye. We're probably splittin ways after this. I reckon she's off to the Pokemon League, I've not even got meself 4 badges yet."

"I haven't got any at all. My brother just headed for the League as well."

"Well that'll put a damper on Ez's shot to win it, then." Mark laughed a bit. We let our Pokemon out, he also had a Weedle, which resembled a centipede with a spike on it's head and round wheel-like feet, and a Pachirisu, a blue and white squirrel. I knew it was electric type, as it had the same type of cheeks as my brother's Pikachu.

"That's Packy. He saved my hind at the Water Gym in Cerulean." He said. We noticed a particular lot of battles happening at the other side of the fountain, and saw a trainer in a black jacket and black pants with a red stripe battling a girl with a blue coat on. The girl seemed on the losing end, as her Rattata was barely balancing. The boy's Pokemon was hidden from view, until his voice shouted, "All right, let's end this-Flamethrower!" What resembled a fox with 5 tails jumped forward and torched the rat Pokemon, and was named the winner.

"Jordan Klipse is yet again the winner! Can anyone take on this fab trainer and win our prize?" We asked people watching what was going on, and apparently this Jordan guy hadn't lost a match the whole time he's been in the city, and if anyone could beat him, they'd win a cash prize of 1000.

"I'll do it!" It was me, however. Mark yelled, and give the 5 entery fee. Standing across from Jordan, they looked evenly matched- Mark looked the part of professional, and Jordan looked cunning in his black and red outfit.

"All right, here are the rules," Mark began, seeming bored and overconfident. "I'll send out a Pokemon, and you can use any one you want to battle it. If you win, you get the prize, if I win, you can't challenge me again unless I lose to someone else, but there will be no prize the second time around. That being said, let's begin."

Jordan threw out a Pokeball, and out from it emerged a purple... thing, standing on two legs, with two powerful arms. It's mouth was large, and it had to round ears on top of it's head with a red circle and a black dot in each.

"A Loudred, eh? Well chap, I've got the answer, go Starly!" Mark's original Pokemon looked like a soldier ready for battle. It didn't hover, it just looked at it's opponent and waited for the action to begin. I realized that Charmander and I needed to be a bit more strict in battle, watching others showed me how haphazard we must have seemed to Eric.

"Took, Quick Attack!"

"Loudred, use Screech!" The Starly rushed towards the Loudred, and made good contact, knocking it backwards, but before it hit, the Loudred had made an ear-piercing scream that seemed to leave the bird a bit unnerved. I remembered that Screech lowered Pokemon's defense ratings.

"Shake it off bud, use Wing Attack!" Starly flapped it's wings and took to the sky, and rushed at the Loudred.

"Shockwave." The effect was imminent. Loudred formed a spark of electricity that flew at Mark's Starly and hit it dead on as it was coming in for the attack. The bird Pokemon fell early and missed the Loudred, slamming into the ground motionless.

"Once again, Jordan is the winner."

Mark ran forward concerned, but Jordan beat him there. "It's ok, nothing broken, just get it to a Pokemon Center quickly." Mark nodded in thanks before walking back to me.

"I never saw that coming. Shockwave never misses, and electricity is very good against flying types. I forget how some normal types can learn all sorts of moves..." He was lost in his own thoughts, so I stepped forward and paid the fee.

"I'm next."

"Did you hear the rules?" I nodded. "Good, now let's begin again." He tossed out a different Pokeball, and from it erupted a small, quick-looking creature resembling a cat on two legs. It had pink ears, and 3 pink feathers on it's back.

"Go Charmander!" I tossed my Pokeball and my Charmander stared at my opponent's Sneasel.

"Well this should be interesting. Sneasel, Ice Beam."

"Ember!" The Sneasel reared back and sent a thick stream of ice at my flame Pokemon, but the fire melted it on contact.

"Use Smokescreen Charmander!" I said. My Pokemon let loose the accuracy-lowering smoke yet again, and the Sneasel did seem confused.

"Quickly, Ember again!" My Charmander spun again, and the small flames struck the Sneasel square in the chest. Jordan whispered something, and the Sneasel collapsed. I thought it was odd to have been so weak, until it leapt up and struck my Charmander with blinding speed. I felt my jaw drop.

"That was Faint Attack, it never misses. Now, Fury Attack!" The Sneasel used it's claws to attack Charmander over and over, and Charmander used Scratch to fend it off. Fury attack won out, however, and Charmander was knocked backward.

"Ready for more?" Jordan called, his Pokemon sharing his confidence. The smokescreen hadn't done much, and it had already disappated. Charmander should have an advantage, as Sneasel was Dark and Ice type, and everyone knows that fire melts ice. It seemed like Ember just wasn't strong enough to knock out this Sneasel.

"Always ready. Charmander, Leer!" Charmander glared at the Sneasel, and it flinched at my strategy. Leer had the same effects as Screech, just not as powerfully.

"Ice Shard!" The opponent's Pokemon sent loose many icicle-looking particles that struck Charmander over and over, leaving it looking weak.

"Cam! Fire melts ice, remember! Try flamethrower!" Mark called. Charmander didn't know flamethrower, but I tried it anyway-

"You heard him, use Flamethrower!" Charmander opened his mouth and let loose a stream of fire that engulfed Jordan's Sneasel. When it came out, it looked as weak as my Charmander. A smiled down at my fire lizard, but he seemed exhausted at the effort of using the attack for the first time.

"Sneasel! Use Slash!" The Dark Ice pokemon tried to run towards Charmander, but didn't seem to have the energy, it stopped and kneeled a short way along the way.

"Charmander, Ember!" Charmander tried to spin, but also had to take a knee.

"... so we call it a tie?" The announcer asked. Jordan nodded and we recalled our Pokemon. We shook hands.

"Good battle, what's your name?"

"Cameron Steele."

"Well good show out there, I would've had you without the advantage your Charmander had though." He laughed, and I knew it was a friendly jest. Mark and I headed to the Pokemon Center where we met Ezra standing outside.

"Saw that. You didn't do too badly. But you should practice new moves before you try to use them, you easily could've won if Charmander knew what he was doing before he tried."

"Thanks... I think." Mark and I each gave the desk attendant (I assumed it was a Joy) our Pokeballs, and sat down.

"You did do well, was that your first battle?"

"Second."

"Wow. You're doin pretty well, mate. That Charmander might just be somethin special after all, usin' Flamethrower for the first time and all that."

We got our Pokemon back and saw Ezra standing across from Jordan.

"You know the rules?" He asked.

"I could just use the money." She responded. Her cold voice seemed to shake the trainer Mark and I had just battled.

"Okay then. Go Vulpix!" He sent out his fire-fox again and Ezra barely seemed to move as she casually tossed out a ball. From it came the psychic Pokemon I immediately knew as an Alakazam.

"Whoa!"

"Yeah, that's about most people's reaction to her."

"Vulpix! Fire Spin!"

"Psychic." As Jordan's Vulpix was rearing back to release it's attack, the area around it seemed to shift and glow, and it was thrown back to it's trainer's feet, obviously unconscience. Ezra calmly recalled Alakazam and collected her winnings as the announcer, in shock, announced her as the victor.

"Wow. You're something else, my name is Jordan." He reached out his hand.

Ezra kept walking away. "Ezra," she called back, without turning to him. We caught up to her.

"What was that for? He was just trying to be nice." I said. She turned to me with a look on her face, kind, but condescending.

"Cameron, it was all about appearances. Word spreads of your power, your outfit, and your personality when you get as good as I have. You should probably pick an outfit to battle in." She looked at my jeans and red t-shirt. "It feels bad sometimes, but my coldness helps intimidate those who have heard about me. Now, I'm heading to the Indigo Plateau. Mark, you coming or staying?"

"I'm staying. I don't think I've trained nearly enough... I only beat the Electric Gym on luck..."

"Well then let me give you both some advice. To each of you, catch more Pokemon, especially you Cameron, and get a better outfit. (I mumbled something inaudible about them being burnt while she gave Mark his advice about being quietly confident) Now, I'm off. Maybe I'll see you each again one day. It's been fun." And without another word, she was off.

We walked back into town, and Jordan waved us over.

"So, that Ezra is a friend of yours?" Mark nodded, I said "More of an acquaintence, really."

"She's good. But, I think I'm ready to start my badge-collecting now."

"You don't even have badges yet?" Mark said in disbelief.

"Nope, I wanted to make sure I had a good variety that were strong before I tried. How about you guys?"

"Well I've got three..." Mark said, a little embarrassed he was defeated by someone who hadn't earned anything yet.

"I'm just starting out as well." I said. Jordan and I had seemed pretty evenly matched, and he remembered the fact.

"Well isn't that the rub! Seems like we'll be following each other around. I'm really not into rivalries, but it'll be nice to see how you do! Well I'm off!"

We watched him go to the gym, and we turned to each other.

"Are you gonna challenge the gym?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, but I'm going to take Ezra's advice first. About the Pokemon, not the clothes." I added, as he'd seemed confused.

"Oh, good idea. So when are we gonna go look?"

"Now's as good a time as any. I suppose I could get one before nightfall." He agreed, and we headed back into the woody path. Charmander defeated a few Spearow and Rattatas, but nothing that really made me want to capture it.

"Cam, look!"I heard Mark call. Over a particular leafy section, past it was a creek, there was a blue, ball-looking Pokemon playing in the creek. "That's an Azurill! They're not very common. Go for it!" I started to let Charmander out, but Mark stopped me. "It's just a baby, you can't attack it!" I wondered whether or not to take his advice, Ezra had mentioned something about his inability when catching Pokemon, but he seemed right, so I stepped toward the water Pokemon slowly, the ground seeming to creak as I got closer.

I looked back at Mark, who gave me the thumbs-up, and I tossed the Pokeball. The Azurill saw it coming and seemed confused as to what it was, until it opened and sucked it inside. It shook violently for a second, Mark saying "It's going to escape!" Before it stopped, and the release button glowed red for a second, and then stopped as well.

"I got it!" We each ran to the Pokeball and I picked it up, releasing my new Pokemon. It glared at me and turned away. "Don't be like that little fella, we're gonna be partners! It looked at me smiled, before launching bubbles into my face. Mark laughed as I called it back into it's Pokeball.

"That one is supposed to be easy to train, and your Charmander is supposed to be hard, looks like it's gonna be backwards for you, mate." He joked.

I went to respond, but the cracking of the leaves below our feet got a lot louder and we stopped and looked down, realizing what was going to happen a milisecond before it did, and the ground let out and we fell into the darkness.


	6. Dark Message, and Gym 1

We fell for a while, and landed in very, very cold water. It seemed like an underground lake, there wasn't a current pulling or pushing, and Mark and I broke the surface gasping for air, feeling disoriented.

"There's a shore to the right!" I heard Mark yell, we swam over and pulled ourselves out of the freezing water, coughing and feeling exhausted.

"Where are we?" I asked, realizing the stupidity of it.

"A bit farther down than we were, underneath of that stream, it seems like." Mark answered. I called out Charmander and we huddled around his tail for warmth. There was only the sound of dripping, and the occaisional flutter of wings around us, and the air felt... foreign. I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature, and Mark looked suspicious too.

"Come on, we've gotta find a way out." Mark nodded in agreement and we got up and moved to the massive rock wall ahead of us. In the blackness we couldn't see much other than what the small hole high above us illuminated.

"I've got an idea," Mark called. He pulled out a Pokeball and released his small electric squirell, Pachirisu. "Packy, use Flash!" The Pachirisu curled up, and let out a small beam of light, it was more like a flashlight than actually being able to see everything, but it was better than nothing. "Erm... her Flash isn't that strong yet, it seems. But she's bloody brilliant with her speed."

We walked along the wall unti, thanks to the electric squirell, we found a small inset in the wall. It looked deliberate, like it was hidden. We stepped in, and saw that it extended to our right, and we followed it. It went on flat for a while, then started to climb further downwards.

"Is it just me, or is the air getting warmer?" I heard Mark grunt in agreement as we continued to follow Packy down the long tunnel. We came out into a round chamber, lit with torches on the walls. Very melodramatic, I thought.

"Ah, I've got you where I want you!" we heard. Shocked, I looked up. Above us was a female, very similar to Ezra, but looking... evil. Her hair flowed about her as if blown by some unfelt wind, and her eyes were all black, as were her clothes, her hair a dark purple.

"... Ezra?" Mark called. I didn't think it really was her at first, but after hearing him believe it, I got much more scared. She didn't respond, she just stood above us, with a Pokeball in her hand, tossing it up gently and catching it. Mark turned to me, "Cam, we can't hope to beat her, if she uses one Pokemon, and we use all of ours, we might just delay her enough to... well I guess there isn't a real escape, is there?"

"Enough talking." Ezra called, and tossed her Pokeball down from her high podium. Out of it erupted a blue, shark/dragon like creature, with a shark tail and fins on it's arms and back, but it stood like a dragon, and I immediately felt all hope leave me.

"She has a Garchomp?"

"Remember when I told you about being jumped, and her using one Pokemon to beat all of the thugs?"

"Yep."

"That's it."

"Yeah, I figured." The Garchomp's eyes were the same as Ezra's, all black, and it seemed to have an unnatural and evil aura about it. There was no way all of our Pokemon combined would put a dent in it.

"Look for a way out. There's no way we'll win this fight." I said. Mark nodded, looking terrified. Ezra stood on her platform, watching us with a cold look, emotionless.

"I wish my brother was here." I don't know what made me say it, but as I did, I heard a cracking sound, like gravel being crunched, and turned around. On another pillar behind me, stood Stain. He stared emotionless at Ezra, and at Mark. "Stain! Help!" He glanced at me and then the ground began to shift, I was pulled to Stain's side, and Mark was pulled to Ezra's. Two pillars burst from the ground, and we were beside the two expert trainers. "You've got to get Mark and I out of here Stain!" I look at my brother, and saw the same look in his eyes that was in the Garchomp's and in Ezra's. They were all black, and he seemed evil as well. He released a Pokemon, which ended up being an actual dragon on all fours.

"Your brother has a Salamence? Cool!" I hard Mark yell, apparently forgetting the danger we were now in. The blue dragon looked intimidating, and also evil. No one was responding to me, and I couldn't stop the battle, I reached towards my brother, but found I didn't have the ability to move anymore. It felt as if I was being restrained by chains. I went to shout- but found my voice had been taken as well. Looking desperately towards my brother for help, I strained- to no avail. The Salamence and Garchomp began to have a heated battle in front of us, with no word from the trainers. They also had abandoned special attacks, and were using tail, claw, and teeth to battle.

"This can't be real," I thought... and then I realized. "Wait. This really can't be real." I heard my voice, and I could talk again, the other 3 looked at me, and Ezra and Stain smiled.

"Why can't it be real, little one?" Ezra called, sounding nothing like Ezra at all.

"Because you're both at the Indigo Plateau, I watched you go!" The two snickered, and I felt my platform move, and I was thrown face first between the opposing pillars, I heard Mark right beside me.

"Come now, that's really getting old!" ... sometimes British people just don't realize the situations they're in it seems (Mark thought the same of Americans, as it turns out). Looking up, the trainers had disappeared, but the two Pokemon on either side of us were charging up Hyper Beams, not at each other, but at the two people caught between them.

By the way, that's us.

"No," was all I could get out before the two beasts let loose their power, Mark and I closed our eyes from the blast as we felt the heat get nearer-

And it never came. I opened my eyes to a bright light. It seemed like we were in the same cavern, but it was different. I was as if the damp stone had turned into white marble, and pillars became marvelous things of beauty, and there was no sign of evil trainers or Pokemon anywhere. I turned to see that Mark was asleep, unmoving. I went towards him, but a sounds behind me made me stop.

I turned to see a ghost like Pokemon, black, white, and red, that I recognized instantly.

"Darkrai..." The pokemon didn't respond, but gestured for me to follow as it sank into the ground. I was confused, until I saw it's shadow on the floor going towards the opposite end of the room. I followed warily, until we reached a room filled with books. Darkrai reappeared, and floated over to a single book open on a desk of black marble.

"Read." The Pokemon said in a deep voice. I went over to the book and read.

_"... and after passing said tests, the chosen one will have proven his mind,_

_and you shall lead him to me._

_I am here to tell you this, Chosen One. All you trust is not what it seems._

_All you love are not who they claim._

_And nothing you know will stay the same forever._

_Follow your path, defeat the elite-_

_And then the evil you must vanquish shall be revealed..."_

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked. Turning to look at the Dark Pokemon that had led me here, he merely inclinded his head to me.

"Destiny." He said, before disappearing. I wanted to ask more, but all around me erupted into light, and I felt like I was waking up from a dream...

"... gonna be backwards for you mate." Mark joked.

"Ha, seems so pal." We walked back into town, to stay in the Pokemon Center, but I felt something in my subconscious nagging at me.

The next few days were filled with training and catching while we traveled to Pewter City. I managed to add a Caterpie (that quickly evolved into a Metapod) and a Zubat to my party, while Mark caught a Buizel, a an Ekans, and a female Nidoran. He had been acting rather upbeat since finally filling his 6 Pokeballs.

I'd been doing more training than anything, and the connection between my Charmander and I was becoming very strong, soon Mark couldn't even put up a fight unless he used his water-type Buizel or his Starly. Azurill was tricky, because it enjoyed playing more than fighting, but when it did fight, it's defense was very good- and it's temper was very high. Getting in the way of it's Water Gun attack wasn't bright for any opponent. My Metapod didn't seem to do much but Harden anymore, which was frustrating losing battles to Mark with- and Zubat liked using attacks that caused effects rather than actually attacking it's opponent.

"I think you're ready to go, mate." Mark said after about a week of training. "The rock gym's Pokemon aren't that difficult, and the gym leader changing constantly since Brock's departure, as they get strong and want to move on." I nodded, feeling fairly confident, but wondering what strategy to use. Metapod was next to useless, and Charmander could only use Metal Claw against rock types. Azurill was perfect, but didn't like fighting, and Zubat couldn't do much against rock. "Worst comes to worst, you lose and challenge again after you train more." I nodded, and didn't want to seem weak. After all, he'd beat the gym having just a Starly, a Weedle (now a Kakuna), and a Pachirisu.

I made my way in and a receptionist took my name, there were a few trainers around, having practice battles, and Mark defeated one of them handily before my name was called. Mark and I went into the arena, only to see stands packed with fans.

"Wha-?"

"The challenger, ladies and gentlemen, is Mr. Cameron Steele of Pallet Town!"

"I'm not from-"

"The Gym Leader, our new town hero, enters now- put your hands together for: Laruscha!" The stands exploded, and I noticed Mark going to sit in one of the empty seats. Laruscha came in opposite of me, and I was taken aback. She had dark skin and black hair, and was a very pretty girl, wearing a jean skirt and name-brand shirt. She was small and dainty, and the exact opposite of what I had been expecting.

On the other hand I, however, probably looked a bit more professional. Taking Ezra's advice, I had gone shopping. I was now wearing jeans, a black button-up dress shirt, and a sports jacket, with a dark silver tie. I hadn't seen it worn before, so I tried it out, and liked the effect. I did feel more like a real trainer, and I noticed some of the fans of Laruscha noticing, and looking scared.

The gym leader nodded to me and spoke into a microphone connected to her shirt. "This will be a 4-on-4 battle. Are you ready?"

I nodded, a bit taken aback by the showy style this Gym Leader used. It was more like a TV show than a Pokemon battle. It made me mad.

"Then let's begin, toots." She smiled sweetly and threw her first Pokeball, out of it erupted a tree-looking Pokemon, a Sudowoodo. It looked gass-type, but I knew it was rock. That thought led me to an idea.

"Charmander, go!" I let Charmander out, and immediately I noticed Laruscha smirk, my plan worked.

"Charmander, use Smokescreen!" My flame lizard send the deep, black smoke out of it's mouth, that covered the space between the two Pokemon, and engulfed Sudowoodo.

"Sudo, use Rock Throw!" The opponent's Pokemon summoned and hurled many rocks in my Charmander's direction, but due to the smoke, they all missed.

"Charmander! Metal Claw!" Charmander immediately obeyed, and struck the Sudowoodo with great force. "Follow up with Flamethrower!" Flames engulfed the tree-like Pokemon, causing it to flinch. I knew it wouldn't do much damage, but we had a huge advantage now.

"Shake it off, use Low Kick!" The Sudowoodo tried to kick my Charmander, but he was too fast for the tree, and jumped over the kick.

"Metal Claw again!" Charmander obeyed, and the Sudowoodo was knocked out, just like that. The crowd went silent, and Laruscha looked shocked. My plan worked to perfection. I knew she'd think I fell for her Rock-type looking like a Grass-type when I sent out Charmander, and she'd be overconfident. One down easily. I recalled Charmander, knowing she knew his abilities, and not wanting to show he only really could use Metal Claw to do damage.

"Good start. Go Onix!"

"Azurill!" I sent out my little bouncing blue Pokemon to take on her enormous rock snake. It was a guess, but water was good against rock.

"Defense curl!" I called, and Azurill quickly used her reserved power to bulk up her defense.

"Tackle!" Laruscha called. Onix hit my Pokemon head-on, and luckily Defense Curl stopped a bit of the damage, but Azurill was too small to take many physical attacks from an Onix. Azurill was glaring at the rock snake, looking extremely pissed at it's nerve to attack a baby such as itself.

I decided to take advantage. "Water gun!" The little blue ball puffed up and shot a few gallons of water at extremely high speeds at Laruscha's Onix, knocking it to the ground, while it was struggling to get up, I decided not to have mercy.

"Follow up with Bubble!" Azurill obeyed, and the attack knocked the struggling Onix back to the ground, and the suds lowered it's speed. "Water Gun one more time!" The attack effectively ended the battle, and I was feeling confident.

"... no more games, Cameron. Go, Graveler!" Another rock Pokemon was just another victim to me at this point.

"Azurill! Water Gun!"

"Graveler, Earthquake!"

My Azurill's attack hit the Graveler, and it skid back a few feet, but the earthquake it had caused knocked Azurill into the air a few times, and it hit the ground panting, before Laruscha had Graveler use Rollout to knock her out.

The crowd erupted, apparently forgetting the throw-down I had been giving just a few seconds before. Maybe this was going to be harder than I thought.

Looking out onto the arena, I knew what my play was going to be next.


End file.
